Senior Systems Administrator and Site Reliability Engineer

Join the PRIDE and Brookfield Zoo Chicago’s mission to ignite emotional connections with wildlife that spark conservation action while leading vital programs to protect endangered species.  Our beautiful 235-acre campus offers a living classroom that is home to over 3,500 animals representing 500 species. Brookfield Zoo Chicago is embarking on a groundbreaking, ambitious Next Century Plan to achieve our vision. It is the beginning of an exciting transformative journey!    

• This is a non-union full-time salaried position, grade 11 with an expected hiring range of $97,224 to $108,162 annually.
• For our Benefits Summary Information, follow this link to our Benefits Table or copy and paste the following in your internet browser www.brookfieldzoo.org/custom.czs/files/06/06337b2c-b3db-45a2-8eb2-f8362486bd0e.pdf (please refer to the non-union, full-time employee section). 

Basic Function:

• The Senior Systems Administrator/Site Reliability Engineer contributes to the success of Brookfield Zoo Chicago (“BZC”) by designing and making architectural decisions to continuously improve the Zoo’s infrastructure and systems while ensuring the reliability, scalability, and performance of systems and software driving departmental innovation and continuous improvement in a collaborative environment supporting a variety of business needs, solutions, and communications supporting BZC’s mission and achievement of strategic and annual goals. 

Primary Job Duties and Responsibilities:

• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions of the position.
• Manage and operate BZC’s infrastructure and enterprise software platforms, ensuring high availability and optimal performance. 
• Address issues with software and infrastructure as and when they appear.
• Design and implement automation processes to reduce manual intervention.
• Collaborate with other IT teams; work closely with operations, support and project management to build and maintain scalable, resilient infrastructure & systems, automate operations and ensure IT services run smoothly 24x7.
• Develop and maintain monitoring and alerting systems for proactive incident management. 
• Ensure appropriate and responsive application and software monitoring is in place to monitor and correct application performance; set and achieve service-level agreements and indicators (“SLAs/SLIs.”)
• Observe and monitor performance metrics after deploying the application in production environments.  Perform post-incident analysis to drive continuous improvement.
• Participate in capacity planning and demand forecasting to ensure system scalability.
• Implement and maintain change management best practices to manage the configuration and lifecycle of hardware and software.
• Engage in continuous learning to stay updated with the latest industry trends and technologies.
• Other related duties as assigned
• Denotes Essential Job Function(s)

Experience Required

• Position Requirements and Specifications:
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or Technology field, or eight years’ equivalent work experience required. High school diploma or educational equivalent (e.g., GED) required.
• Three years’ experience in equivalent role (Senior Systems or Network Administrator, or Senior Site Reliability Engineer), or five years’ experience in related role.
• Experience filling a variety of technology needs in an environment where juggling multiple roles across various IT functions required. Familiarity implementing, supporting, and managing automation and monitoring tools to support Microsoft, Active Directory, and other enterprise software and infrastructure.
• Experience with cloud-based and on-premises platforms and tools. Knowledge of distributed systems, networking, and infrastructure as a service.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a collaborative mindset.
• Excellent communication skills and a commitment to operational excellence.
• Cultural competency; experience and/or ability to work and interact effectively with a diverse, multicultural audience.
• English fluency at a professional working proficiency.
• Valid driver’s license required at time of hire. Illinois residents must possess a valid Illinois driver’s license or obtain one within 90 days of hire. Valid out-of-state driver’s license is required for out-of-state residents.

Desirable/Preferred Qualifications:

• Contributions as a systems administrator, database administrator, operations engineer, architect, IT operations or similar preferred.
• Experience across a wide range of environments and industries in consulting or managed service provider roles a plus. Strong knowledge of best practice IT operational processes and supports in a hybrid Managed Service Provider and FTE model.
• Experience developing and supporting the implementation and buildout of new tools, processes, and infrastructure to improve operations.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. Strong knowledge of cyber security and compliance.

ITIL, CompTIA A+, Microsoft Certified:

• Modern Desktop Administrator Associate, or similar certifications a plus.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• This position description summarizes the primary duties and functions of this position but should not be considered a complete listing of every duty the incumbent may ever be called upon to perform.
• Incumbent must have the ability to work in collaborative environment that values creativity, knowledge sharing, and an eagerness to learn. Incumbent is responsible for reporting immediately to the VP of Information Technology and the Vice President of People & Culture any discovery of child pornography or other illegal activities on any of BZC’s electronic or information technology equipment in accordance with BZC policy.
• Immediately report to the VP of Information Technology any activity or request for application or security updates, modifications, or unauthorized access in the IT environment that may violate current BZC policy, particularly as it relates to electronic communication or confidential information or loss or breach of personally identifiable information.
• Position requires nonstandard work hours, including holidays and weekends as needed.
• Individual must carry a mobile communication device at all times and be available to respond 24 hours a day/7 day a week as required for emergency support (on-call rotation).
• OCCUPATIONAL REQUIREMENTS:
• See Occupational Requirements Form. 001286/123024

Further Comments

• hiring range of $97,224 to $108,162